The residents group opposing the current plans for Twickenham station is appealing for funds to help engage a barrister for a judicial review against the decision, which will cost £10,000.

About 70 people attended a public meeting, chaired by Twickenham Residents Action Group (Trag) on Thursday, March 29, to discuss the possibilities available for halting the current proposals for the redevelopment of the station.

However, Richmond Council announced this week that work on the development would begin this September, after it officially approved the plans last week, following consent from the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson and the secretary of state for communities and local government, Eric Pickles last month.

Yet Trag are still hopeful that it can stop the plans from Solum Regeneration, which were approved in December last year.

A letter addressed to “Twickenham residents”, from Trag, said: “We need to elicit a QC’s opinion about the feasibility of launching a judicial review of the decision. Engaging a barrister to give us that opinion is dependent on having the funds and we shall need to make that judgement very soon.

“We therefore urge you to support us immediately to raise the funds to engage a barrister. We are just over 50 per cent toward our £10,000 target now, but time is getting very short if we wish to have a professional opinion sufficiently quickly to give time to consider a full legal challenge.”

The council is still pressing ahead with plans and said its next step was appointing a community liaison officer, who will be a “key point of access” for residents during the redevelopment.

Councillor Virginia Morris, the council’s cabinet member for environment and planning, said: “I know that there are some people who are still keen to criticise this development.

“I remain very confident that the planning process was handled fairly and I would be disappointed and concerned that any further challenge, regarding a decision which has had sign off from the secretary of state and the GLA, would hinder the delivery of a new station by 2015.”

The Rugby Football Union (RFU), hosting the Rugby World Cup in 2015, has supported the current plans from Solum throughout.

RFU stadium director Richard Knight said: “The RFU has engaged widely on this scheme and we are confident that the new station will provide an impressive gateway to Twickenham for the several hundred thousand visitors from around the world during the 2015 Rugby World Cup.”

Trag put forward an alternative proposal for the station last year, called Plan B, and hoped it could still be adopted instead.

John Robinson, from Solum Regeneration, said: “The scheme delivers a new station for Twickenham. It has been designed to manage increased passenger numbers forecast by Network Rail and will significantly improve the experience for people with disabilities and push chairs.

“The design of the scheme has been future proofed to enable growth in train services.”

For more information on the judicial review, visit trag-sos.moonfruit.com.